Abstract
In “The Second Self, Sherry Turkle depicts the computer as a physically opaque and evocative object. Like a Rorschach diagram, it encourages North American users to employ the computer as a means of self‐identification. Do people from other cultures respond to the computer in the same way? American responses take place in the context of American ideas about technology. In this study of Sri Lanka Tamil computer users in London, it was found that Tamils respond to the computer in ways that become fully comprehensible only when situated in the context of traditional Sri Lanka Tamil culture and the U. K. immigrant experience. This finding points the way toward a cultural theory of user appropriation of technology. It also raises doubts regarding the oft‐repeated thesis that the diffusion of advanced industrial technology will lead to world‐wide cultural homogeneity.
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